The Twilight 25: Moments
by Starshinedown
Summary: Written for second round of The Twilight Twenty-Five challenge on Livejournal. A collection of canon and AU drabbles exploring the characters, inspired by prompts provided by the challenge. Pairings, POVs, and ratings will vary by entry.
1. Comfort

**a/n: I didn't find out about the first round of the Twilight 25 until it was halfway through, but I find the idea exciting. Twenty-five prompts for 25 drabbles and/or one-shots over the course of three months. Powered by the Twilight 25 Community on Livejournal. (http :// community(dot)livejournal(dot)com /thetwilight25 /profile)**

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The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt: Comfort  
Pen name: starshinedown  
Pairing: Charlie, Bella  
Rating: K+

The Wizard of Oz is playing, and he's holding his little girl. They are on the floor, his legs folded in front of him, Bella on his lap, her head resting against his chest.

There's a towel draped over his shoulder and to the right is a bucket, both there in case the bathroom is too far away when she's sick.

Wrapped around them is her favorite blanket, light blue and soft. All her three years of life, Bella's needed that blanket to sleep. It, in combination with his arms, will be what she needs to get any rest tonight.

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**a/n: It's ridiculously difficult for me to limit my blathering to 100 words. Sheesh.**

**More to come!**


	2. Fragments

Disclaimer: As ever, Twilight and all the associated characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. I own them not.

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The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt: Fragments  
Pen name: starshinedown  
Pairing: Jasper  
Rating: T

They are pieces of a life, memories residing in physical objects.

Graced with vampirism's eidetic memory, mementos from an immortal life aren't necessary; he can recall every point in his life if he has a mind to do so, if those events occurred after Maria changed him.

Maria is the defining edge of memory.

It is his life before which requires physical representation. His human life is reflected images and shadows, so he carries his history with him in copies of company and battalion rosters, tombstone rubbings, and a gray coat threadbare in the elbows and frayed at the seams.

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**Tell me your thoughts on these drabbles, dear readers.**


	3. Alone

As ever, all things Twilight are the property of Stephanie Meyer. I make no claims of ownership.

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The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt: Alone  
Pen name: starshinedown  
Pairing: Carlisle  
Rating: T

Carlisle works day and night at two hospitals. They don't share staff, so there is no one to notice the fact that he doesn't sleep.

He stands in the lobby of the busiest hospital in the city—this fall, with the Spanish influenza taking so many of the city's residents, it is quite busy—and the crowd of people breaks and flows around him as a river around a boulder. Doctor Cullen is untouchable.

Walking among them, the doctors and the nurses and the sick, he stands apart.

Carlisle learned long ago that one is especially lonely in a crowd.


	4. Red

The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt: Red  
Pen name: starshinedown  
Pairing: Mike  
Rating: T

Mike cannot think of a time he has paid attention to a girl's shoes without prompting. He knows chicks notice shoes; he's sure, now that he's lived in co-ed dorms for three years, that girls have their own secret shoe language.

Then he sees her. Walking down the hall toward the elevators, he sees a swing of black dress, a flip of brown hair, and a flash of shiny red on her feet as she slips between closing elevator doors. They slide shut behind her, and Mike realizes he has no idea who she was.

She's stunning. He wants her.

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a/n: Send some feedback my way, pretty please!

...you all know, right, that Stephanie Meyer and maybe Little, Brown, own Twilight and all the associated characters? Good. Glad we're clear on that.


	5. Earnest

Disclaimer: The Family Swan is the creation and property of Stephanie Meyer.

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The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt: Earnest  
Pen name: starshinedown  
Pairing: Renee, Charlie  
Rating: T

She can see it in every line of his face, in his serious eyes.

"I'll do anything," he says. "Don't take our little girl. It will kill me."

She knows that if she lets him talk her into remaining in this little overcast town, she'll die. One day, she'll lose everything to Forks.

He means it, she knows. He is the most determined, no-nonsense person she's met. It is a terrible choice: kill her spirit by staying or kill his by leaving.

In the end, it is his very earnestness that decides her. It is smothering; she can't live here.

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**a/n: Hey folks! I'm offering myself up for auction at the end of this week, Jan. 15-18, 2010. It is for the Support Stacie Auction. Come bid on a one-shot written by moi for charity! There are links to the auction forums on my profile, but here is the URL: www(dot)supportstacie.(dot)com/ phpBB3/viewforum .php?f=16 **

**FFn strips URLs from our story docs, so replace the (dot) with, well, dots, and delete the spaces I've added in.**

**Just think! You could dictate a one-shot, tell me who to pair up, what the plot ought to be...it'll be great stuff, all for a good cause. Go check it out.**

**hugs,**

**~starshinedown  
**


	6. Prelude

The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt: prelude  
Pen name: starshinedown  
Pairing: Jane  
Rating: T

Her lips curl into a small smile. The rest of her face remains impassive.

On the face of an angel, a girl caught just at the first bloom of womanhood, such a smile has no place.

For pious souls who see that smile, there is only the thought that it belongs to the Devil himself; such malice and hate would be at home, there.

Instinct tells them that the hard curve of her lips is not all, that it speaks to greater horror.

Aro thrives on her expression. It is the starting point, a precursor to Jane's great leashed power.

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**Jane and Twilight are property of Stephanie Meyer. I make no claims of ownership.**

**Want more Jane? As a part of the Support Stacie Auction Jan. 15-18 2010, I'm offering three (3) one-shots of your choice up for bid: one in the Twilight fandom, one in the Buffy/Angel fandom, and one auction for a crossover between the two fandoms. For more info: www(dot)supportstacie(dot)com/ phpBB3/ viewforum(dot)php?f=16**


	7. Slip

**a/n: HMonster, you're a great flat surface against which I can throw spaghetti. Thanks to you, no drooling in this prompt. Thanks for the pre-read, LoreliD, goddess of good Volturi fics!**

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The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt: Slip  
Pen name: starshinedown  
Pairing: Aro, Sulpicia  
Rating: T

Sulpicia leaned against the entryway, back-lit by sunlight, her sheer dress-like garment almost invisible, the silhouette of her perfect figure accentuated by the lighting.

"My dear," he murmured, stunned. "You are perfection itself."

She walked forward, and he saw that the thin lace-trimmed material hid nothing from his sight. His eyes tracked the sway of her hips as she stalked him.

"Humans call them 'slips,'" she answered his unspoken question. "They are meant to be worn under clothing. I like them better on their own. Do you?"

Bless the humans and their ever-changing fashions. "I do indeed, my dear wife."

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**a/n: I might be a little fascinated by the Volturi these days. 'S all LoreliD's fault. **


	8. Worry

The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt: Worry  
Pen name: starshinedown  
Pairing: Rosalie, Emmett  
Rating: T

Rosalie watches, chewing on her lower lip.

The venom has taken hold. His huge body is convulsing as it is violently remade into something far more durable.

When he wakes up, he will be a monster, like her.

Did she do the right thing, bringing him to Carlisle? She thinks not.

But she couldn't leave him there, a life wasted. That hair, those dimples…

She wanted him, and Rosalie gets what she wants, even if she must damn someone else to this life she has despised so much.

When he wakes up, will he hate her as she hated Carlisle?


	9. Apathy

The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt: Apathy  
Pen name: starshinedown  
Pairing: Jessica  
Rating: K+

What hurt was not the rejection, so much, though that did sting. What hurt was the way Cullen so obviously didn't give even the tiniest bit of care toward her at all.

He hadn't acknowledged her presence in front of him at all until she'd screwed up her courage in the face of his indifference and asked him out anyway.

Then he'd turned her down without even the flicker of an eyelid, and when she'd turned to walk away, her eyes burning with tears she would not shed, his conversation with his siblings had continued as though she'd never existed.

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**a/n: Don't forget to review!**

Disclaimer: I own nothing about the Twilight property. It's all Stephanie Meyer's. I simply enjoy poking at her characters.


	10. Awe

All things Twilight belong to Stephanie Meyer. You know that, right?

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The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt: Awe  
Pen name: starshinedown  
Pairing: Claire, Quil  
Rating: K+

Early on, his favorite day was Saturday, because those afternoons were "Pixar Afternoons," when Claire picked the film of her choice from the studio and Quil made popcorn. It became ritual.

That first movie afternoon, little Claire had been amazed, learning the movies looked different than Spongebob because they were animated by computer, not pen and ink.

Twenty-odd years later, it is Quil who is slack-jawed as she describes the ways she and the other geniuses at Pixar bring fictional characters to film.

She's so smart, so skilled. He's awed and humbled to have such a woman in his life.


	11. Obsession

**a/n: All things Twilight belong to Stephanie Meyer, not me.  
**

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The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt: obsession  
Pen name: starshinedown  
Pairing: Jasper, Maria  
Rating: M

Power is her focus. Every action she takes, every word she says, is calculated to accumulate it. The sex you use to control each other, the way she purrs under your attention, they are part of her grand plan. She means to control the entire region.

You, your ability to plan, create, and control, are her linchpin. Your battle plans get her closer to her goal. You train her soldiers, whip them into frenzy, destroy them when their use ends.

With you by her side, she can achieve so much more. You are how she will make her obsession reality.

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**a/n 2: Review, my lovelies!  
**


	12. Vibrant

**a/n: I wrote this a while ago, but couldn't post it until the Twilight Gift Exchange reveal post, because it complements the fic I wrote for the exchange, _Coming Home_. You don't need to read it to understand this drabble, though.**

**I own a comfy pair of LL Bean slippers and am owned by a demanding cat. All things Twilight belong to Stephanie Meyer, not me.**

**Call it a post-_Breaking Dawn_ AU.**

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The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt: Vibrant  
Pen name: starshinedown  
Pairing: Renesmee, Bella, Edward  
Rating: K+

"This is Hamburg?" Renesmee asks.

Dad smiles and nods. "Yes, and Hamburg…?"

Dad makes everything educational. The young girl sighs. "Hamburg was built by Charlemagne twelve hundred years ago," she recites, "and right now it's really pretty."

Mom snickers. "She's concentrating on the important parts, Edward. Like the beauty of the Christmas lights."

Renesmee nods, agreeing, her shining eyes taking in the lit stalls of the _Weihnachtsmarkt_. The city's main square is packed with vendors peddling their wares, people shopping, and the aroma of gingerbread, sweets, and roasted apples.

It is the most vibrantly alive place she has ever been.

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**Review, please!**


	13. Bound

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
**Prompt:** Bound  
**Pen name:** starshinedown  
**Pairing:** Marcus  
**Rating:** K+

The court they have accumulated over the years is arranged before them: supplicants seeking favor, soldiers protecting the brothers, lackeys feeling important by association.

Volturi law keeps their world secret and safe from the overwhelming mass of humans. The Volturi protect against discovery and destruction, and so their fellow vampires pay homage. As kings and subjects have a reciprocal bond to one another, so too are the Volturi and all vampires fettered.

He can see the tethers of power that stretch from the thrones to those prostrating themselves. These connections pass the physical boundaries of Volterra to all vampires everywhere.

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**a/n: Many thanks to LoreliD for her feedback, and helping me make this a better piece!**

**Twilight, and Marcus, belong to Stephanie Meyer, not me.**


	14. Taut

The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt: taut  
Pen name: starshinedown  
Pairing: Seth  
Rating: K+

He freezes mid-stride, his entire body stretched taut, the muscles corded, flexed, and bunched under his smooth and tanned skin.

All thoughts of walking to the store flee his head.

Seth is certain he's never seen anyone more beautiful. Blue-black hair, brown skin, white teeth, long legs, gorgeous smile.

He doesn't know her name, but he knows that he is forever hers, however she will take him.

She notices him, smiles, and approaches. Never before has he felt his heart pound so hard; the exhilaration and terror of facing Victoria or the Volturi is nothing compared to this rush.

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Leave a review with your thoughts!

Disclaimer: all I own is the words. Twilight is allllll Stephanie Meyer's.


	15. Bitter

**Bitter:**

The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt: Bitter  
Pen name: starshinedown  
Pairing: Angela  
Rating: T

"Don't like it, huh?"

(Sounds of exaggerated gagging)

"I don't know why people are so put off by it."

"…"

(Sounds of spitting)

"I can't believe you like that!"

"It's delicious. Wholesome, even."

"So wholesome I wanted to spit it out as soon as I tasted it. Gross."

"I bet if I blend it up and mix it in soup, it'd be ok."

"Yeah, if I couldn't taste it. Which I can't imagine. It's really—ugh."

"_Bel-la_! It's good for you!"

"_Angela_! That must be why it tastes so bad."

"I don't know what your problem is. Kale is delicious."

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**a/n: Yeah, I'm not a fan of the dark greens. I keep tryin' 'em, though, 'cause they're good for you. **

**Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer = owner of all things Twilight. Me = aspiring writer who can't be bothered to write her own stuff 'cause she's writing fanfiction.**


	16. Collide

The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt: collide  
Pen name: starshinedown  
Pairing: Esme  
Rating: T

When his fist collides with her stomach, Esme feels all of her hopes and dreams for the future flee with the breath that rushes out of her lungs at the blow.

_He'll kill my baby_.

She hasn't told him. She only figured out why her body was feeling different a few days ago. It's barely enough time to wrap her head around the idea: she's going to be a mother.

Later, when he is working, she is in the garden weeding when she doubles over and is sick among the geraniums.

_I have to leave_.

She's decided. She'll head West.

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**a/n: Twilight is allllll Stephanie Meyers. The depth and dimension I'm giving her under-utilized characters? Mine, baby.**


	17. Dark

**Dark:**

The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt: dark  
Pen name: starshinedown  
Pairing: Renesmee, Jasper  
Rating: K+

"It's my favorite flower," Jasper says as he takes Renesmee to the greenhouse. "It's very special."

"Special? Does it smell good?"

He smiles. "No."

"Then why do you like it?"

"Everything is beautiful in its own way. I…I find kinship with it."

"I like daisies. They're pretty _and_ they smell good. Like us!"

He tickles her side. "Yes, they do! This flower's special because it only blooms at night. It never sees the sun."

"Even _you_ get to be in the sun! Is the flower sad?"

"I don't think so, Sweetheart. Some things are meant to flourish in the dark."

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Disclaimer: Characters? Not mine.

a/n: Jasper's flower is _datura inoxia_, aka stinkweed, angel's trumpet, prickly burr, thorn apple, moonflower... FYI, They're wicked poisonous, in addition to being gorgeous and stinky.


	18. Honest

The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt: honest  
Pen name: starshinedown  
Pairing: Harry Clearwater, Sue Clearwater  
Rating: T

His wife (wife! not "girlfriend" or "fiancé") twirls in their small living room.

"What do you think?"

"You're beautiful," he answers, unable to keep his eyes from her lithe form.

"Of the dress, silly!"

Harry blinks. The dress? He hadn't even noticed it, being far more interested in the shape under it. "It…" He pauses. He remembers his father getting into trouble in such situations. "Honestly, Sue?"

Her face falls. "Of course."

"I was so distracted by _you_ that I didn't notice the dress. I'm sorry."

"Distracted…in a good way?"

Harry's answering grin seems to allay any insecurities she has.

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**Disclaimer: Twilight and it's characters are not mine.**


	19. Languid

The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt: languid  
Pen name: starshinedown  
Pairing: Aro, Marcus  
Rating: T

You watch Marcus with a critical eye. He is indifferent to his surroundings; all of his vitality has left. Without Didyme, he is a shell of the vampire you've known and ruled with for centuries.

It is your doing. You almost regret his current state. Before you killed his wife, your sister, Marcus was a force of nature. None could stand before him.

He and Didyme were going to leave, however. Unacceptable. The Volturi cannot be seen as weak, fractured.

No.

You had to snip that idea at the outset, keep Marcus close.

A languid ruler is a ruler nonetheless.

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a/n: as always, I don't own Twilight or the characters. That's all Stephanie Meyer, Little, Brown, and other corporate types.


	20. Patience

The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt: Patience  
Pen name: starshinedown  
Pairing: Alice  
Rating: T

The girl is a tiny thing. Pretty, except for the dark circles under her eyes and the way she flinches when her father speaks of committing the girl to your care.

Soon you understand: she is more than simply appetizing. She has a Talent, this weak little human. Prophetic dreams. Your plans shift. Rather than feed from her, you will make her your companion.

Changing her right away will not do. You want to test her, pushing her limits now, so she will be even more powerful as a vampire. You can afford to wait. Immortals have nothing but time. 


	21. Lithe

The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt: lithe  
Pen name: starshinedown  
Pairing: Jasper, Alice  
Rating: K+

Alice has an effortless grace, which draws you in each time you see her.

Less than five years ago she appeared and lit up the darkness you'd found yourself existing in. You know your life will never, ever be the same.

Already you cannot imagine how you made it through each day without this small, feisty spark of vampire in it.

You watch her flit across the room, dancing to the Little Richard song—not music you like, but she does, so you keep the radio tuned to the station anyway—and her grace (inside and out) keeps you captivated.

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**Disclaimer: Alice, Jasper, and Twilight belong to Stephanie Meyer. I make no claims of ownership.**


	22. Morose

The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt: morose  
Pen name: starshinedown  
Pairing: Carmen  
Rating: T

It was how the Spring season was, for her. What she remembered of her human life had largely faded, but she remembered that she lost her brother in the Spring. She'd raised him when her parents had been unable to.

It bothered her, sometimes, that she didn't remember why her parents hadn't been able to take care of him, why she'd needed to raise her brother.

All she knew was that when the world was waking up from the long winter, when green reclaimed white, she felt a gloom settle over her in memory of someone she only half remembered.

a/n: I'm completely and wholly making up a possible history for Carmen. That's what fanfic is for, right?

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**As ever, I don't own Twilight or the associated characters.**


	23. Restraint

The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt: restraint  
Pen name: starshinedown  
Pairing: Charlie  
Rating: T

When he realizes how close his daughter came to dying, or to permanent injury, Charlie feels his knees go weak even as his stomach heaves.

He sags against the side of his patrol car, his forearms resting on the door window, his head in his hands, as he gathers himself together and quashes the nausea.

He is going to kill, slowly, Tyler Crowley for putting Bella in danger.

Walking into the E.R., he sees Crowley's mother, and buries deep the urge to murder her son.

Chief Charlie Swan upholds the law, he does not break it. He can restrain himself.

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**a/n: Twilight? Not mine. Review, please!**


	24. Willing

The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt: willing  
Pen name: starshinedown  
Pairing: Eric, Tyler  
Rating: K+

a/n: Let's pretend that after _Eclipse_ & _Breaking Dawn_, Eric and Tyler are at university together. Maybe UW.

"I'm in, if you are."

Eric's voice is strong, confident. Tyler curses to himself. He really doesn't want to do this, it isn't his thing, but he can't back out now. Not if Eric is willing.

He agrees with a bravado he doesn't feel. "Yeah, man, I'm in. How'd we go through all of high school without trying?"

"We grew up in Forks, that's how."

"You two next?" The man asks.

"Yup!" Eric walks the short span across the bridge to get hooked into the harness.

Gritting his teeth, Tyler follows. He can't believe he's bungee-jumping off of a bridge.


	25. Rapacious

The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt: rapacious  
Pen name: starshinedown  
Pairing: Edward  
Rating: T

a/n: Edward, the rebellious years.

In the two years since he left Carlisle and Esme, Edward has touched the minds of truly repugnant individuals.

The mind of this man, on the side streets of San Francisco, is one of the worst he's encountered. He takes indiscriminately, uncaring of the damage he does to those who survive, thinking only of his own need to dominate, to punish.

When Edward hears his thoughts, he physically recoils. _This_ is why he's left Carlisle's guidance. _This_ type of human is the type he is meant to cull.

Of the two of them, Edward wonders, who is truly the monster?


End file.
